Missing drugs, fraud and old equipment: NSW health audit

Missing drugs, fraud and old equipment: NSW health audit

A financial audit of the New South Wales Health Department has thrown up cases of missing drugs, overtime fraud and ageing equipment.

State auditor-general Peter Achterstraat’s latest report has revealed discrepancies in drugs inventories at Lismore Base Hospital of around $130,000.

Mr Achterstraat says the head of the department was not properly notified about the variances, contrary to policy.

The North Coast Area Health Service says no drugs were stolen and a computer software error was responsible for the discrepancy.

It says the drugs involved were common analgesics valued at about $400.

The report has also revealed that fraudulent activity, involving the claiming of overtime shifts not worked, has cost Sydney’s Prince of Wales Hospital $100,000.

Worthless assets

In another damning assessment of the state’s crumbling health system, the auditor-general notes that many of the assets at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children date back to when it was first built 12 years ago.

Mr Achterstraat estimates around 40 per cent of public health assets now have a nil value.

“Equipment which was purchased with an original purchase cost in total of over $100 million has now been fully depreciated,” he said.

He says it does not necessarily mean the equipment is unsafe.

But Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell is not convinced.

“I don’t believe there are many people in Australia who would jump on an airline if they were told that the airliner was life expired in terms of depreciation,” he said.

The Opposition says it is another reason why there needs to be a Royal Commission into the health system.

Overall, many area health services are continuing to struggle to treat emergency patients with potentially life-threatening conditions within the national benchmark time.

The report says five of the eight area health services overran their budgets in the last financial year.

Health Minister Reba Meagher has responded to the report, saying it has acknowledged significant improvements that have been made in recent years.

She says the public health system continues to perform at or above the national average for almost every performance indicator.

Inquiry

The State Government last month established a special commission of inquiry into the health system after the deputy state coroner blamed Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital for the 2005 death of 16-year-old Vanessa Anderson, who was hit in the head by a golfball.

The coroner, Carl Milovanovich, found the hospital made every conceivable error in its treatment of Miss Anderson, who he said died because she was given the wrong dose of painkillers.

He branded the death “tragic” and “avoidable”, and recommended an inquiry into the NSW health system.

The hospital was the subject of an inquiry last year, after a woman miscarried in an emergency department waiting room toilet after waiting two hours for treatment.

Commissioner Peter Garling SC has six months to identify the problems in the system, come up with solutions and report back to the Government.

The Australian Medical Association and the Opposition fear the inquiry time is too short, but the State Government says it could be extended.

There were revelations about live cockroaches in operating theatres and beds collapsing during surgery during last year’s inquiry into Royal North Shore Hospital.

The report made 45 recommendations and identified problems including an unacceptable tolerance of workplace bullying, a disconnect between management and staff, and a shortage of nurses.